Bennett told POLITICO on Friday that he met informally with Trump campaign officials about logistical hurdles they'll face should Trump win the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses and sweep the early primary states in February and March. Bennett said that once a candidate locks up enough support to win, it's important to pivot quickly to new considerations, like how to raise money for the Republican National Convention in July and for the national party.

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"All of your hard work and success is rewarded with bigger problems," he said.

Bennett said the relationship, first reported by the Washington Post, would continue to be informal and only upon request by the Trump campaign. "I offered some informal unpaid advice about what happens once you become the nominee," he said.

Bennett said he told the campaign that if Trump wins Iowa, he's likely to be the presumptive nominee by mid-March. Then the campaign has to gear up for the prospect of a $1.5 billion general election.

The revelation that Bennett is working, even informally, with Trump staffers is sure to confirm suspicions raised earlier in the week by Carson's close confidant, Armstrong Williams, who accused Bennett of angling for a job with the Trump campaign. Bennett left the Carson campaign on New Year's Eve, citing clashes with Williams and frustrations with a campaign in disarray. He quickly began predicting publicly that Trump would win the nomination.

Though Bennett has no formal role in the campaign, he has long ties to Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Williams slammed Bennett in a Facebook post Friday morning, a day after Bennett and former Carson communications director Doug Watts described in detail deep dysfunction inside the Carson campaign that contributed to his sharp decline in the polls over the last two months.

"The unmitigated gall of Barry Bennett and Doug Watts: To attempt to curry favor with the Trump campaign by delivering Dr. Carson's campaign infrastructure on a platter is nothing short of amazing, Williams wrote.